Electric cars are typically more expensive than buying traditional gasoline-powered cars. This means that many people automatically dismiss owning something like a Tesla because they think it’s not affordable. While the upfront cost may be more than a Honda or Toyota, there are plenty of benefits financially, and otherwise, that may cause you to take a second look. Here are the most surprising benefits of owning an electric car.
Better Parking Spaces
Want priority parking when you go to the store, park at work, and head to the movies? Car charging stations are often located near the front of the building because it’s easier to run electricity to the charging ports. When you park to run your errands and want to charge your car while you’re inside, you automatically get better parking spots.
Low Engine Maintenance
Because electric cars don’t require all the moving parts that a combustion engine has, there is significantly less maintenance needed on an electric vehicle. Think about it for a minute. Gasoline-powered cars need regular oil changes, tune-ups, new filters, etc. When parts like a fuel pump or a gasket go out, the repair costs can be prohibitive. Rebuilding an engine can easily cost $3,000-$5,000 or more. Because electric cars don’t have these parts, the cost to maintain them is significantly less.
Don’t Need to Worry About Rising Gas Prices.
In addition to saving on car maintenance, you can also save by not paying for gas. Electric cars, such as the Tesla, take an average of $500-$600 to charge per year. A similar-sized gas-powered car may require $3000+ for gas per year if the average fuel cost is around $4/gallon. In the long run, you can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a vehicle by not using gas or by hedging your gas usage in investments. Some areas that routinely experience gas prices of $6-$7/gallon or more can save even more by driving an electric car.
Quiet Ride
What makes a car noisy? It’s the engine. All those tiny explosions and moving parts in the machine make for a noisy ride. It’s the primary reason that things like a muffler are necessary on a car. And while car technology has come a long way to create cars that aren’t as noisy, there is no way to silence the sounds of a gas-powered engine completely. Electric cars barely make a sound. If there is any noise, it’s the noise of the tires on pavement and not the machine that you would hear from far away. Imagine if entire cities used electric cars. There would be hardly any noise coming from the streets into the houses. It would be easier to build along highways as well.
Enjoy Financial Rebates
There are financial incentives available to people who drive electric cars. Not only that, but you can even get rebates and tax incentives when you add charging ports to your house. These rebates can add up to thousands of dollars in savings per year. Governments are using these rebates to encourage people to drive more eco-friendly electric and hybrid electric cars.
Gain Special Access to HOV Lanes in Some Regions
Some cities are creating laws that give priority and free access to HOV lanes if you drive an electric car. This means that even if you are the only one in the car, you can drive in the high occupancy lanes to help you get to work faster. This is powerful, especially for people in cities like London, Washington, D.C., and other major metropolitan cities worldwide. It’s an incentive to help encourage more city drivers who commute, mainly to upgrade to an electric or hybrid car.
Reduce Carbon Emissions
Vehicles that run on gasoline emit harmful gasses into the atmosphere. When cities become overwhelmed by these vehicles, the air becomes hard to breathe and impacts people’s health. These emissions get filtered in some places, but in others, they cause harm to environments and ecosystems that cannot handle the overload. On the other hand, electric cars don’t emit any of this. The more electric cars there are in a region, the better the environment, water supply, and health will be for people, plants, and animals.
